mixtape maestro (2.0)

Aren’t we all more than a little embarrassed for front Pussycat Nicole Scherzinger? Even with ubiquitous top-of-the-chart names like Timbaland and will.i.am handling her production duties and tongue-wagging music videos that made our televisions and computer screens sweat they emitted such heat, poor Nicole’s solo excursion was pre-deemed such a flop, the album never even made it into stores. Damn, even Paris Hilton was able to nab an album release and get one Hot 100 single!! (We blame Nicole’s last name!)

With her tail tucked between her legs, Miss Scher-Zippity-Do-Dah re-joined the leggy girl-pop troupe that made us care a smidge about her in the first place, and quickly became re-acquainted with the feeling of success again, thanks to PCD’s Top 10-charting comeback, “When I Grow Up”. Was it another guilty pleasure as endlessly fun as “Buttons”? No, but it at least triggered a few giggles this summer, if only because we initially thought they were singing “I wanna have boobies” in the hook (real, less humorous, lyric: “I wanna have groupies”).

Nevertheless, the tune has recently been re-worked with a hip hop twist, with producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins throwing sprinkles of MJ’s “Thriller” atop a rumbling, urban bounce.

Bookended by the always-welcomed party starter Fat Man Scoop, the “When I Grow Up (Remix)” also features guest drops from Diddy and Lil’ Wayne. Diddy makes for an obvious fit alongside the song’s ambitious theme, allowing him the umpteenth chance to brag about the many jets and diamonds in his possession while once again proudly brag of his lack of true rap talent: “I don’t write nothin’ but yeah I flow” (Barely, Mr. Combs). Meanwhile, Weezy (P.S.: you’re officially a superstar now, no need to make charity cameos like these anymore) continues to be our favorite hip hop goofball with stupid-fresh lines like “When I grow up/ I wanna be/ E-za-cally like me/ Me, me, M-E, moi/ Mwah to the P-U-S-S-Y” (why is it no one ever mentions how much of an influence the equally cuckoo, rhyme-rambler Missy Elliott must of had on him?).

DL: “When I Grow Up (Remix)” (YFH)

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A 25-song, two-disc album? Sigh, who has the time or patience these days to listen to that, especially when it’s someone’s debut project (and that someone looks like a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie and sings like he’s in the midst of some never-ending cold)?

But then, once you get past Benji Hughes‘ intimidating looks and finally get around to hitting play, you’ll quickly find yourself unable to cut intro LP A Love Extreme off, swept off your feet by it’s smirking lyricism and sweet indie-pop-meets-alt-country-meets-whatever-other-style-he-opts-to-throw-in charms (oh and that odd voice of his, totally bearable after the first few minutes or so).

Here’s a couple favorites:

On the dreamy ballad “Waiting For An Invitation”, one of many standout tunes from the first disc, Hughes’ moans over the nitpicky way he’s been spending his life. “Maybe I’ve been waiting too long/ For somebody to throw my kind of party,” he ponders, his ever-increasing age giving him a reality smack across the face. Maybe he should stop sending fans’ apology letters and start planting the seeds for the old band reunion they’ve been anticipating for so long. Maybe he should stop looking for guidance in the stars to determine the routes of his love life.

A soothing sea of acoustic guitars inter-weave beneath his sorrowful croon, depicting the meandering path he’s followed his entire adult life. Time isn’t on his side, he finally realizes, but the dooming piano sounds that emerge towards the song’s fade out seem to signify that he may have figured this out far too late.

DL: “Waiting For An Invitation” (YFH)

Elsewhere, the chime-y “Neighbor Down The Hall” documents his life as a tenant of an apartment building located in an “OK side of town”. Through the vignette, he relates spending evenings catching countless hoodlums skulking around the property (“I am a member of the neighborhood watch/…I work very closely with the local police,” he proudly claims), though his heroic accomplishments fail to endear him to his closeted neighbors. All they worry about is him “rocking out too hard” to his “jam box” in the middle of the night, a concern that’s led to “nine complaints in three weeks” and an agitated landlord ready to boot him out with just “one more call”.

DL: “Neighbor Down The Hall” (YFH)

To hear more from the intriguing newcomer, visit Hughes’ MySpace. A Love Extreme is available now.

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As we anxiously await for Cali indie-rapper Murs to drop his major label debut, Murs For President, sometime later this year, he’s offering a fans an early Christmas present in the interim: the chance to download (for FREE) his third collaborative album with producer 9th Wonder, entitled Sweet Lord. Anyone privy to the duo’s last two classic joints, 2004’s Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition and 2006’s Murray’s Revenge, can understand what a major gift this is and will likely be happy to hear that they don’t disappoint on the latest go ’round.

One sure Sweet Lord highlight arises with “And I Love It”, another one of Wonder’s soul-sampling summer delights that finds Murs (following an engaging, relationship-themed intro verse he scraps mid-way through) reciting a lengthy list of the many moments and things he’s held dear throughout his entire life span.

Amongst his breathlessly-delivered mentioning of favorite foods, life lessons, old school dances (The Cabbage Patch!! The Running Man!!!), copping his first pair of Jordan’s at age twenty-one and doing the Electric Slide with Auntie, ’80’s babies will definitely get a kick out of shout-outs to classic cartoon faves like Thundercats, Care Bears and G.I. Joe “with any show that came on after that”.

DL: “And I Love It” (YFH)

Pick up Sweet Lord here (and if it’s financially possible, don’t forget to donate)!!

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On this perspective-flipping rendition of Rihanna’s “Irreplace…”, err, “Take A Bow”, Ne-Yo (the original song’s writer) takes on the role of the adulterous boyfriend (and “ugly” weeper) begging for another chance on his girl’s front lawn. Rather than simply gender-swap words, though, he re-works lines to flesh out the character’s POV (“Got me out here putting on a show/ They was laughing at me/…Don’t say we’re over now/ Please let me in the house”).

It’s live context doesn’t do Ne-Yo’s limited tenor any good (his melodious vocal touches definitely sound much better after the in-studio smoothing) and ultimately, the guy in the song is still a pathetic dog (“So now I’m saying sorry cause I am…”), but with the addition of a strong second verse, we could see this “Take A Bow Part 2″ actually becoming a modest radio hit on it’s own.

DL: “Take A Bow (Rihanna Cover)” (YFH)

(Hear Ne-Yo offer a male version of another one of his hit compositions here!!)

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It seems like we’ve been waiting eons for some proper solo material from Miss Keri Hilson. Touted long ago as a future R&B starlet, we might’ve heard the occasional leak from her, but mainly she’s been spending her days supporting others under the guise of songwriter (credits include Britney Spears, Mary J Blige and Chris Brown), hook singer (Timbaland’s “The Way I Are”, Nas’ “Hero”) or music video eye candy (Usher’s “Love In This Club”). With the release of her official debut single “Energy”, though, she’s finally ready to nab some spotlight all on her own.

As far as power ballads go, “Energy” works, but after all that lengthy anticipation, having her intro cut sound like something Leona Lewis would trill to seems a bit underwhelming. It’s understandable that she would prefer to premiere with something with some mainstream appeal, but with Keri proven to be one of the few artists capable of not being completely overshadowed by Timbaland’s poly-rhythmic electro-funk, you would think her jump-off joint would be something a lot more game-changing.

“Energy”’s saving grace ultimately lies in her masterful use of a pen and pad. Pumping a fresh lyrical spin on the usual strained romance fare, she scribes potential award-winning couplets like “I wish I could rip out a page of my memory/ Cause I put to much energy in him and me” and “I’m having nightmares from sleeping with the enemy/ How do we reverse the chemistry?” to explain her fears concerning an at-once perfect union that’s suddenly crumbling apart before her. Add in an accompanying video that features numerous shots of her toned frame and “Energy” has enough going for it to keep the excitement brewing for her upcoming In A Perfect World. Still, it begs for a little punch…

…kinda like what’s heard on this clubby remix from Croatian producer Karlo. The way the vocals are placed in the mix aren’t the best, but the knocking drums and spacey synth dazzle he cooks up (all without taking too much attention away from Hilson’s songwriting) raises the track’s ‘energy’ level a hundred-fold.

Head to Karlo’s MySpace to peep some more of his work including some really cool re-hauls of Timbaland’s “Scream” and Ashlee Simpson’s “Outta My Head”.

DL: “Energy (Karlo Remix)” (YFH)

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Jazmine Sullivan might have re-acquainted listeners with what “real” R&B/ soul music should sound like on her outstanding debut single, “Need U Bad”, yet a cautious embracing of her would be understandable. How many times have we been blown away by a R&B newcomer in recent years, only to end up disappointed because the album that followed didn’t live up to all that early “genre-rescuing” hype. Well get ready to become excited all over again because based on the sound of recent leaks making the blog rounds, Miss Sullivan is definitely looking to become the urban world’s new TRUTH!!

From it’s opening moments, the epic “Lions and Tigers” announces itself as a clear-cut classic. Atop some gorgeously plucked orchestration, Sullivan erupts like an emotion-filled volcano, relating her wariness of opening her heart to someone new.

When it comes to wildlife’s most vicious of creatures or having to perform in front of the Queen, Sullivan isn’t at all shook, but plant love in front of her and she instantly re-coils. “Am I the only who thinks it’s an impossible task?/ Why it don’t last?/ Is that too much to ask?/ Why do we love love, when love seems to hate us?” she powerfully belts away, the sour experiences of previous romances leaving her enormously terrified of ever going down that road again (“I can cross mountains/ Swim cross the seas/ But the most frightening thing is you and me”).

As the arrangement builds and builds to breathtakingly plush peaks, a break from her pessimism begins to peak through, the classic line of “It’s better to love than not to love at all” and the promise of new “sweet memories” pushing her into considering the welcoming of amour back into her life. But after that brief flirtation, she just as soon retracts to her original cowered position on the subject, the thought of leaving herself vulnerable to heartache once more seeming just too difficult a task to follow through on.

Like “Need U Bad” (but to the tenth power), Sullivan’s performance here is so raw, so internally exposing, that you’re moved to pause the song mid-way through just to give yourself a temporary break from all it’s emotional heft.

The next time you hear somebody say they don’t make R&B like they used to, put this on and show them that there’s still hope…and it’s name is Jazmine Sullivan.

DL: “Lions and Tigers” (YFH)

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Ahhh, “Lovefool”, that candy-coated pop gem of ‘96. To any Top 40-raised child of the nineties’, just mentioning The Cardigans‘ big hit stirs up memories of those “golden” years, not to mention reminding one of the utter babe-aliciousness of the band’s frontwoman Nina Persson.

Cali indie-pop favorites The Morning Benders help revive some of those fond recollections on this lovely remake, part of their new Bedroom Covers EP (which you can download, for FREE, here) that also sees them taking on Paul Simon, The Ronettes and The Smiths among others.

Their intimate reading beautifully grasps the underlining darkness of the original, re-painting around it’s lyrical desperation with a spare tambourine jiggle, hushed acoustic guitar strokes, and some of the creamiest male harmonies this side of Simon & Garfunkel. When Nina dreamed for her ex to “love me, love me” again against her version’s bubbly disco rush, you got the feeling that her period of depression would be brief (hotties like her don’t stay single for too long); the nerdy introvert vibe given from the Benders presents a far more infinite emotional concavity, their downbeat swoons seeming to summon up the dour realization that if she doesn’t take them back, they’ll probably never get a shot at love with another live soul ever again.

DL: “Lovefool (Cardigans Cover)” (YFH)

Hear tunes from The Morning Benders’ debut LP, Talking Through Tin Cans, below:

Uncategorized '90's, california, cover song, indie pop, morning benders, the cardigans

In the quest to get some via a one night-stand, 23-year-old Norwegian singer Ida Maria has devolved into a fidgety mess. All her words are coming out sounding like gibberish and she’s even resorted to puffing on a cig, despite the fact that she doesn’t even smoke. “What the hell do I do this for?/ You’re just another guy”, she self-quizzes, quickly adding a breath later, “OK you’re kind of sexy/ But you’re not really special”.

Her answer in pushing pass all the awkwardness: getting him home as quickly as possible and stripping him of all his clothes; “I like me so much better when you’re naked,” she raspily explains on the blaring hook. With her anxiety colorfully illustrated in the track’s energetic ska-punk pizazz and a wild vocal performance that hints that when she finally gets dude in his birthday suit, it’ll be a night he won’t soon forget, “I Like You…” swells with a fizzy pop addictiveness that’ll most likely leave you wondering what else the newcomer has to offer on her debut full-length, Fortress Round My Heart.

Who’d-a thunk that witnessing one woman’s uncomfortable detour into skank-ville could be as endlessly entertaining as this?

DL: “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” (YFH)

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He probably won’t ever convince anyone to believe in him as a rapper, but Swizz Beatz‘ role as a charismatic hype-man is hard to deny, especially when he’s coming up with golden, “sure-to-be-adopted-by-wannabe-baller” hook chants like “Michael Jordan/ Tiger Woods/ I’m tryna to get that Oprah” (If only he could have brought in someone with a stronger spit game to fill in the spaces between that one line, instead of offering us his lame attempt at a “freestyle”).

FYI Swizz, chopping up “Viva La Vida” into a bounce number is kinda cool, but beware, those Coldplay fanatics are truly “gangsta” and you’re about to get a ton of e-thug heat for messing with what’s become a cherished nu-classic.

DL: “That Oprah” (YFH)

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Chirpy vocal melodies, multi-part harmonies, fractured vignettes and ADD-arrangements that sometimes seem to combine a handful of different songs into one represent Thinks and Feels, the channel-surfing-esque new LP from Phoenix five-piece band What Laura Says.

Expertly skipping from bluesy gospel laments to Beach Boy-influenced pop to jaunty piano-rock to molasses funk brews over the eleven-cut collection, What Laura Says’ expansive musical base is about as dumb-founding as their moniker, but their quirky concoctions provide a pleasant-filled conundrum to bear witness to; and when it’s all over, you’ll definitely be an instant fan, wracking your brain to figure out a way to explain their fresh, idiosyncratic style to your closest friends.

For better understanding, it’d be simple to tag them as being an experimental act, but don’t take that into meaning that they’re one of those annoyingly oblique artsy-fartsy collectives. No, their material can be quite accessible, especially since even when they threaten to waver in too many various directions at once (like the nearly oft-putting curioso “Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried” or the ten minute suite “Done What’s Right”), they usually drop some sweet doo-wop vocal inter-play or grab onto a catchy instrumental jam somewhere in the proceedings to successfully win the listener over.

If you’re not yet sold on something that’s growing far too challenging to hype in writing, head on over to their website and take a listen to individual cuts like the child-like “Wish I Could Fly”, peppy friend-in-distress ode “Illustrated Manual” or the soul-flavored tranquilizer “July 23″, and they should pique your interest enough to investigate Laura further.

Thinks and Feels will be available on August 19th through Terpsikhore. For more info on Laura, including live show information, check out their MySpace.

In the meantime, enjoy Mixtape Maestro’s favorite track off the album below:

DL: “July 23″ (YFH)

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